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I have solid wood door thresholds that I would like to remove without damaging if possible. However, due to the way they've been fitted I can't see a way to remove them without cutting them.

They appear to have been slid underneath the door stop of the door frame, and then nailed in place. Logic says to reverse this process i.e. remove the nails, then slide it back out from under the door stops. However, the nails don't really have flat heads and have been hammered so deep that there is no part exposed. They are pretty much submerged beneath the surface and where it's been painted you can't even see many of them.

Is there another way?

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    The other way you probably won't like. Remove the door, remove the moulding and stops, remove the nails, and remove the door frame. Pry up the thresholds carefully.
    – crip659
    Oct 17, 2021 at 13:02
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    @crip659 is right. Beyond that, you could demolish the existing and replace with new. Or maybe there's a reason for all this that's not clear to us, and we could offer suggestions on that...
    – Aloysius Defenestrate
    Oct 17, 2021 at 13:25
  • Maybe you could pry it up far enough to get a SawzAll underneath to cut the nails.
    – Steve Wellens
    Oct 17, 2021 at 13:55
  • You might get away with just prying one side of the door frame away from the wall enough to have space to pry the threshold up. Watch the top corner of frame for oops.
    – crip659
    Oct 17, 2021 at 14:38
  • Thanks. I think the @steve-wellens approach is my favourite IF I can get enough space underneath. Whilst I didn't want to damage the thresholds, I want to damage the entire door frames even less so removing door frames sounds a bit sledgehammer to crack a nut!
    – mjuk
    Oct 17, 2021 at 14:48

2 Answers 2

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You can use a nail set tool to drive the finishing nails all the way through the the threshold. Then, since nails are no longer holding the threshold in place, slide it out from the door stops. Depending on the shape of your nail set, this may slightly enlarge the nail holes, which can be filled with wood filler if you wish.

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  • Thanks. Unfortunately these are masonry nails going into concrete below the threshold so not possible to drive them in any further I think.
    – mjuk
    Oct 17, 2021 at 20:12
  • If they're masonry nails, forget the Sawzall! Masonry nails are hardened, and would quickly round off the Sawzall blade teeth. Unless you use a carbide abrasive blade in the Sawzall, if you can find one long enough.
    – MTA
    Oct 17, 2021 at 22:36
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You can get them out. You have to take apart all of the trim on the door, take out the jambs and then you slowly pry the threshold up which might be a mixture of adhesive remover (large quantities) and sliding a putty knife under until you get a big enough gap for a saw blade.

I have popped thresholds out in 2 mins all in piece (I give full doors away). And I have had some that took forever. If you are on concrete it is usually easier - the adhesive remover works faster as it doesn't fall into the wood.

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